West Calhoun Neighborhood Council

Fireworks Display at the Polar Plunge. There will be a fireworks display for the polar plunge on March 6, 2015 at 7:00pm. The fireworks will be launched from Lake Calhoun. The closest point of contact to the launch site is 36th and W Calhoun
Parkway.

WCNC Crew Ski Loppet Team Wins Race!

Congratulations to the West Calhoun Neighborhood Council Crew Ski Loppet Team, which won the event at this year's Loppet. They won the coveted Giant Pearson's Nut Roll. Participants on the team included: Frankie Heller, Anda Tanaka, Jane Meyer, Amy Oberbroeckling, Adrian Swanson and Anders Nienstaedt.

WCNC Board Meeting March 10

Please join us for the next West Calhoun Neighborhood Council Board Meeting on Tuesday, March 10 at 6:00 p.m. at The Bakken Museum, located at W. 36th Street and W. Calhoun Parkway. Parking is available in The Bakken Museum's parking lot or on the street. Watch here for the agenda.

Map of Proposed SW LRT West Lake Station Area

150-unit Mixed Use Development Proposed at Lake & France in St. Louis Park

Bader Development is proposing to build an apartment community consisting of approximately 150 units with retail/office located on the ground floor directly across France Avenue from the West Calhoun neighborhood. The developer will be holding a public informational meeting at 6:00 PM on Tuesday, January 6th at the St. Louis Park City Hall, 5005 Minnetonka Blvd.

City vows to clear busy corners, bus stops

With winter of 2014-15 getting an early start, the City of Minneapolis has promised to clear corners and bus stops at busy pedestrian areas within three days of a snow emergency — or after 4 inches of accumulated snow. To read more about this click here. If you need to report a snow removal issue, call 311.

NCR Minneapolis Connects Newsletter

The Minneapolis Connects newsletter contains news and information from the Minneapolis Neighborhood and Community Relations Department. For the October 2014 issue, click here.

Southwest LRT Updates

To read updates on Southwest LRT Project fieldwork that is happening this summer, click here. If you have questions, you can contact our area's Community Outreach Coordinator, Sopia Ginis at 612-373-3895 or email her at Sophia.Ginis@metrotransit.org.

West Lake Street gas line replacement to impact Lake Calhoun trails

CenterPoint Energy will install a new gas line in the eastbound traffic lane of West Lake Street from Excelsior Boulevard to James Avenue South to prepare for a Hennepin County paving project. This project will impact MPRB sidewalks and trails on Lake Calhoun’s north side.Construction is anticipated to last from June 30 through mid-September.CenterPoint Energy will post signage announcing temporary closures. Please follow detours and parking restrictions as they occur throughout construction.View a construction area map.Please visit CenterPoint Energy's West Lake Street project page for additional information. To sign up for email updates, click here.

Neighborhood Logo Signs Now Posted

You may have noticed the colorful new West Calhoun signs that have gone up in the neighborhood this spring. If not, you can look for them at these locations:

France Ave. & Excelsior Blvd.

32nd St. & Excelsior Blvd.

Lake St. & Marketplace

West Calhoun Pkwy. & Excelsior Blvd.

36th St. & West Calhoun Pkwy.

Lake St. & France Ave.

Lake St. & Excelsior Blvd.

Many thanks to WCNC Board member Kathy Cobb who shepherded this project working with Minneapolis Public Works. The signs were funded with NRP dollars.

Minneapolis Energy Update

You may have heard that Minneapolis Energy Options is advocating for a municipal utility in Minneapolis. Their goal is to create a utility that maintains or improves affordability, reliability, clean energy and local energy. The City Council recently adopted a framework for renewing the franchise agreements with Centerpoint and Xcel Energy. The City Council also authorized $250,000 for a Pathways study to look at legal options and to sketch in how the City could serve the needs of Minneapolis energy customers as a municipal utility. The study should be finished in February 2014. There needs to be voter authorization to form a municipal utility, so the issue would have to go on the ballot to become a reality. For more information about Xcel Energy's perspective on the situation, click here to visit their website.

Capstone Traffic Studies

In response to future SW LRT and present day traffic issues, five Capstone projects have taken place to address traffic issues on West Calhoun's huge landmark intersection at Lake St. and Excelsior Boulevard and the immediately adjacent area. These projects include:

WCNC Bylaws

At our May 11, 2010 Annual Meeting, we voted to update our WCNC bylaws. We have added a conflict of interest policy and have made minor language changes. Copies of the bylaws showing the changes (track changes) and the final version (accept changes) are available for download below. A paper copy will be made available on request.Contact us at 612-928-3511 or info@westcalhoun.org.

West Calhoun Neighborhood Council

West Calhoun Neighborhood Council meets the 2nd Tuesday of each month at 6:00 p.m. at The Bakken Museum, West 36th Street and West Calhoun Parkway. All business and residential neighbors are welcome to attend. You can leave a message with comments, questions or concerns on the West Calhoun Neighborhood Council Voicemail Hotline at 612-928-3511 or e-mail us at info@westcalhoun.org.

All WCNC meetings are open to the public. If you live, work or own property in the neighborhood, we welcome your participation. Please know that West Calhoun residents and their guests are always invited and encouraged to come to the West Calhoun Neighborhood Council’s monthly meetings. The WCNC always strives to provide at least 10 minutes of open forum time at the end of each monthly meeting where residents may bring their questions or concerns before the board. If you have an item that you’d like to discuss or present to board, we request that you strive to limit your time to no more than 2 or 3 minutes. If you expect that you will need more than 3 minutes, please contact the Neighborhood Coordinator, Rhea Sullivan at info@westcalhoun.org and ask if there is time on the agenda for a more in depth discussion. Please try to make such a request at least two weeks in advance of the scheduled meeting. Everyone participating in the monthly meeting is expected to act and communicate in a professional and respectful manner.

2014-15 Board of Directors

Neighborhood Boundaries

West Calhoun is bounded by West Calhoun Parkway on the East, West Lake Street on the North, West 36th Street on the South and France Avenue on the West. The neighborhood includes Lake Calhoun's northern shoreline, Calhoun Commons and surrounding businesses, many residential buildings and 32 homes.

Our Meeting Space: The Bakken Museum

We are very pleased about our meeting space at The Bakken Museum, located at the intersection of West 36th Street, just off West Calhoun Parkway. The meeting rooms are cozy and inviting. Parking is available in the parking lot on the north side of the building and on West 36th Street.

The Bakken Museum is an independent, nonprofit educational institution that collects archival materials related to the history of electricity and magenetism in medicine and the life sciences. It was founded in 1975 by Earl E. Bakken, inventor of the first transistorized cardiac pacemaker and founder of Medtronic, Inc. For more information about The Bakken Museum, visit their website at www.thebakken.org.